It has been a very hard time for me since we left the heavy weather
behind us just after leaving San Francisco. New people on the boat with
different dynamics and with a very different attitude towards racing and
living on a boat really spoiled the fun for me. I was so much looking
forward to being back on the race track after our rescue efforts and our
dismasting that the changes on the boat were just a massive
disappointment. Anyway I decided to resign as a watchleader and be a
passenger for a while (from Jamaica up to Cape Breton Island) until the
attitude on board was back to something more resembling real team
spirit. The change came in Cape Breton and I am back in action. I am
still not back as watchleader but have taken on the role of tactician
which is a really nice change of scenery and a real challenge. Someone
else can worry about boat speed for a change! No complaints about boat
speed anyway. We seem to be fast it's just our tactics and some bad luck
with sail damage, windholes that have been affecting our finishing
positions: 4th into Panama, 4th into Jamaica (damage to mainsail), 7th
into New York (windhole) and 6th into Cape Breton (massive cock ups in
tactics). We are now in 4th position and halfway across the North
Atlantic Ocean. Yesterday I became a circumnavigator having crossed all
meridians on a sailing boat. I am celebrating today with salmiak coins;
Dutch liquorish that was given to me by the friends that visited me in
Cape Breton Island. Today is also the day that I have declared myself
healthy again after having been on cold and flu drugs and
paracetamol since arriving in Cape Breton Island (that's about 13 days
of drug use in a row). I am still exhausted both mentally from the less
happy times and physically from the cold and flu that has been pestering
me since New York but I am sure I will manage to stretch myself until we
get into Kinsale/Cork which is only a small week away.
Sailing wise this current ocean passage is slightly boring and more a
test of belief and patience than one of sailing skills. We decided to
stick to a more southerly route together with two other boats while the
rest of the fleet is following the great circle route which gives them
the shortest distance to sail. Our theory was that we would be sailing
in more constant winds a bit further away from the center of the low
pressure system that is currently driving us. The idea was that this
should give us some speed disadvantages but an overall speed and sailing
angle advantage. We had to hold our breath and stick to the plan
yesterday when winds left us and we dropped behind the northerly
contingent but now we are reaping the benefits of our
strategy...finally! The strategy however consisted of sailing one course
only and with no changes in wind strength or direction this has been a
rather dull process. We have not really had much lucky with whale
sightings either and the small pod of dolphins that did decide to visit
our boat did this when I was fighting the flu in my bunk :-(
Start day was probably the best sailing day so far. We had very close
quarter spinnaker sailing and then had to speed through a field of
hundreds of lobster pots. The work on the bow was hard and after the
many monkey maneuvers going up and down the spinnaker pole and upto and
down the mast several times I caved in and spent my time below deck in
my bunk and in the nav station since I resurfaced the skies have been
overcast. The weather has been humid ever since we crossed the foggy
Grand Banks and Flemish Cap. Luckily the sea water temperature has been
acceptable at 16-17 degrees and the winds have been mainly southwesterly
so all in all it has not been as cold as we expected. The wind has
finally picked up and as I am writing this I can hear the bubbles of a
good surf under the boat. Ooohs and aaahs from deck indicate very good
speeds. Sailing is great! :-)
